The APDUs Management Facility is 100% pure Java tool, written to increase productivity when developing data packages to communicate with SmartCards (including JavaCard.TM.). An APDU is a data package consisting of strings of bytes that are sent back and forth between a SmartCard and a Card Acceptance Device (such as a card reader or terminal). The format and standards for APDUs are defined in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 7816-4. The information contained with an APDU consists of hexadecimal data representing the APDU command type, parameters and command data.
Regarding APDU message structure, a step in an application protocol consists of sending a command, processing the command in the receiving entity and sending back a response. Therefore, a specific response corresponds to a specific command, referred to as a command/response pair. An APDU contains either a command message or a response message, sent from the interface device to the card or conversely. In a command/response pair, the command message and response message may contain data.
Messages are transported between the terminal and the card according to the transmission protocol selected at the ATM. The command message sent from the applications layer and the response message returned by the card to the applications layer are the APDUs. A specific response corresponds to a specific command. These are referred to as APDU command/response pairs. In an APDU command/response pair, the command message and the response message may contain data.
Creating sequences of APDUs for communication with a SmartCard involves dealing with bit definitions and hexadecimal data, and can be extremely tedious and error prone.
At this juncture it would be desirable to define certain terms before proceeding with the description of the present invention. "Smart Card" technology can be defined as follows: a credit card size token that contains a microprocessor and memory circuits used for authenticating a user of a computer. When used for authentication proposes, a smart card is very often paired with a personal identification number (PIN); the combination between what you have (the token) and what you know (the PIN) is considered to establish strong authentication.
In computers and electronics, a SmartCard can be considered as a circuit board with built-in logic or firmware that gives it some kind of independent decision making ability. In banking and finance a SmartCard is used for authentication proposes. A SmartCard is very often paired with a PIN; the combination between what you have (the token) and what you know (the PIN) is considered to establish strong authentication.
As noted, a SmartCard is a card that is embedded with either a microprocessor and a memory chip or only a memory chip with nonprogrammable logic. The microprocessor card can add, delete and otherwise manipulate information on the card, while a memory chip card, such as a phone card, can only undertake a predefined operation.
SmartCards, unlike magnetic strip cards, can carry all necessary functions and information on the card. Therefore, they do not require access to remote databases at the time of transactions.
Today there are three categories of SmartCards, all of which are evolving rapidly into new markets and applications. The first is the Integrated Circuit (IC) Microprocessor Cards or "Chip" cards. They offer greater memory storage and security than the magnetic strip card. Chip cards can also process data on the card. The second type of card is the Integrated Circuit (IC) Memory Card that holds 1-4 KB of data, but does not contain any processor on the card to manipulate data. Thus, IC Memory Cards are dependent on the card reader for processing and are suitable for uses where the card performs a fixed operation. The third type of SmartCard is an Optical Memory Card. These cards can store up to 4KB of data. But, once written, the data cannot be changed or removed. Thus, this type of card is ideal for record keeping. Currently, these cards have no processor in them.
Regarding "JavaCard", it is a SmartCard that is capable of running programs written in Java.
With respect to the term "Protocol", it can be defined as follows: in data communications and networking, a standard that specifies the format of data, as well as the rules to be followed. Networks could not easily be efficiently designed or maintained without protocols. A protocol specifies how a program should prepare data so that it can be sent on to the next stage in the communication process. For example, e-mail programs prepare messages so that they conform to prevailing Internet mail standards, which are recognized by every program that is involved in the transmission of mail over the network.
The term "String", in programming, is a series of alphanumeric characters or unit data other than a numeric value. In data structures a string is a sequence of characters usually representing human readable text.
The term "Hexadecimal" is used throughout the description of the present invention. It is defined as a numbering system that uses a base (radix) of 16. Unlike decimal numbers (based 10) hexadecimal numbers include 16 digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E and F. Although binary numbers are ideally suited to the devices used in computers, they are inconvenient and hard to read. Binary numbers grow long quickly; for example, 16 is 10000 in binary and 10 in hexadecimal format. Therefore, programmers use hexadecimal numbers. A byte is conveniently represented as two consecutive hexadecimal numbers.
"SmartCard" environments can require that the APDUs conform to an environment specific format, and they can have different methods of sending information to and from a SmartCard. Other tools exist which assist in creation of ADPUs for SmartCard communication, but they are most likely tied to a single SmartCard environment. Application Protocol Data Uni--anagement Facility (AMF) has numerous advantages over other APDU generation tools and will be described below.